Hot Off The Press

You are probably looking at the next head coach.

I was just on my way back from the grocery store and ESPN's Pat Forde released a report that soon-to-be-former LSU defensive coordinator Bo Pelini will be named Nebraska's next head coach sometime early next week.

It's not up under anything that I check on a regular basis. Not on HuskersIllustrated, ESPN or on the Lincoln Journal-Star. Keep it here or any of those sites to see if this report has any substance what so ever.

Former athletic director Steve Pederson has returned to AD of Pittsburgh University. So, if Pelini is hired it would seem that we have just been in a vacuum for the past four years and things should return to normal now. One can hope, right?

Bringin' It Into the Weekend

As we move forward into what I hope will be the most exciting Saturday of college football this season, here are some things to look for in regard to the Nebraska coaching job and what I’ll be watching on the tube this weekend.

First things first, we’ve been over this to death this week so I’m not going to bore you with retread thoughts. Reportedly, Nebraska interim athletic director/coach Tom Osborne said he hoped that a new coach would be revealed by this weekend. That means today is the day, but go back and read that last sentence. He hoped a new coach would be named, doesn’t mean that a new coach would be named by the weekend.

From what I’ve read and heard this is how I see things breaking down.

Frontrunner: Bo Pelini – he’s undefeated as a Nebraska head coach, and he’s got a better winning percentage than Tom Osborne. Alright, alright, I know it’s just one game that he’s won, but he was a part of the old regime, as brief as it was. He’s got more big time, big program experience and he’ll supply a lot of intensity and hopefully can get the Huskers to play up to their abilities. Remember, he’s sort of a hothead and his defense down in Baton Rouge is underachieving. He’s never been a head coach really, either.

Down But Not Out: Turner Gill – he turned around a horrible program in Buffalo and has years upon years of experience and know how under the tutelage of one Tom Osborne. Gill has been a head coach, he knows what it’s like to run a full season or two as the guy. But he hasn’t had the big time spotlight type of coaching experience. Maybe that’s for the best, maybe he won’t think like a head coach would and he won’t over think everything like Callahan. You have to outplay to win in college, not out plan.

The Brian Thorson Situation - I have to make this bold and attach it to Gill for this reason. He's a Buffalo offensive line commit from Omaha (Millard North, specifically) and Osborne visited him yesterday about coming to Nebraska. Why the sudden interest? Why would Osborne go after a two star recruit going to Gill's current school next fall? Especially with four and five star targets starting to waiver in their support for going to Nebraska?

My gut is really telling me that Gill will be the next coach, even though my brain is going with Pelini. Could he be a focus because Gill is coming back to Lincoln? Is he just a package deal to grab the real prize in Sean Fisher, a three star linebacker and teammate/friend from Millard North? I'm guessing they are using Osborne in the small window they have him on the recruiting trail in this way. Simply said, having a state icon in your living room should be enough to secure every player from Omaha to Scottsbluff.

Dark horse: Jim Grobe – Jim who? Come on, you should know this man’s name. He coaches Wake Forrest. We played and defeated the Demon Deacons earlier this season, remember that? Doesn’t it seem about three seasons ago? He almost seems like the perfect fit on the surface, but many fans will say, well, “Jim who?”

I think all three of these guys would be a solid choice. Grobe could be unbelievable with Nebraska money, facilities and mystique. But you know as well as I do it’s going to come down to Gill and Pelini. Just remember, the outcry is for Bo, and if he fails by Nebraska standards Husker fans will only have to look to themselves and the legacy of Tom Osborne. Time to wait and see now. My vote is on the side of Gill for now. When do tickets for the spring game go on sale??

What To Watch

12:00PM ESPN – Boston College vs. Virginia Tech

A little bit of revenge, perhaps? Boston College and senior quarterback Matt Ryan slapped the Hokie faithful in the face when BC came from behind after being flat out dominated by the Tech defense for 58 minutes in Blacksburg in October. Should be a great game to kick the day off right.

Pick: Virginia Tech 20-16

3:30PM ABC – USC vs. UCLA

Another game that has a team bent on avenging a loss. This one comes via last year’s upset in the Rose Bowl (not the official Rose Bowl mind you) when the Bruins derailed the Trojan’s national title hopes by defeating them 13-9. USC is the hottest team in the country next to Missouri. USC is -20 according to Vegas and I’m picking the Trojan’s to cover at home in the Coliseum.

Pick: USC 45-21

7:00PM ABC – Oklahoma vs. Missouri

Watching this game is a no-brainer. Especially since my wife and friends that are coming over are Mizzou fans. Would it be wrong to cheer for the Sooners? Yes, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to be wearing black and gold tomorrow night. I’ll probably defiantly be wearing a Nebraska shirt, just like I did last week when the Tigers played Kansas. It’s hard to bet for or against either team. OU took the regular season game, but Missouri was in it until some dumb turnovers occurred in the last quarter of the game, giving it to the Sooners 41-31. Will Pinkel pull some more boneheaded moves and will the Tigers be tamed? I want to see an MU versus West Virginia national title game, I think I’d boycott if Mizzou lost and it was Ohio State versus West Virginia, blah.

Pick: Missouri 28-24

10:30PM ESPN 2 - Hawaii vs.Washington

Playing in the "If I Can Stay Up Late Enough Bowl." I watched the Warriors beat the Broncos of Boise State last Saturday night and they looked pretty damn impressive doing so. The Huskies completely dismantled the Broncos earlier in the year, so I'm not sure how to call this one. Just know there could be a lot of points. But hold on. You know what else looked good in that game last week? Hawaii's defense. That's right, their defense. Expect Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl against LSU if both teams win tomorrow.

Pick: Hawaii 35-28

I may flip back and forth between USC/UCLA and Tennessee/LSU if either or both games get out of hand. Keep your radar up to see if Pitt can upset West Virginia in the Backyard Brawl. Hey, stranger things have happened this season.

Who’s The Heisman?

If I had a vote, it would be Tim Tebow. I don’t care if he’s a sophomore or if his team is 9-3 and not playing for a conference championship. Brad Smith was not the best player in college football last year, but Ohio State was undefeated and played for a national title and was supposed to win. Tebow is simply a cut above every other player in the pool of Heisman hopefuls. He’s second in the country as far as pass efficiency, and he’s the only player to pass and rush for 20 touchdowns and that’s against teams in the best conference in the country. You don’t have to say much else. If I had to pick a top three, this is how it would look.

1. Tim Tebow – Florida
2. Darren McFadden – Arkansas
3. Chase Daniel – Missouri

Too bad McFadden didn’t play for a better team, because if he played for a team that didn’t lose five games this year he’d probably be the guy. Sorry to Mizzou fans and Chase Daniel, I know he’s been unstoppable and I’ve seen him make some ridiculous plays, I just think Tebow is better.

Anyway, championship week last year for me was a dud. I went to Arrowhead and froze by butt off while watching the Huskers lose to Oklahoma. Too bad we didn't have this weather last year. I hope this "Championship Saturday" lives up to the hype. Sunday I get to watch the Chiefs suck it up against the Chargers this weekend when my wife's parents come over for it, so I'm going to need a good last full slate of college football games tomorrow.

Osborne Back as Head Coach

Don't get too excited, it will probably only be until the end of the week. As I may or may not have mentioned earlier in this crazy week, Osborne passed the NCAA head coach test Wednesday in order to go out on the road and recruit and keep prospective players committed to Nebraska after the Callahan firing.

Hopefully, Osborne's status (although probably fading among kids 17-18 years old) will cement some prospect's decision making process in playing for the Huskers. Some of Callahan's assistants have been out in the trenches this week in living rooms talking to recruits and trying to hold the ship together.

Down To Two

This should come as a shock to no one who reads this, ESPN reported yesterday from an undisclosed source close to Lincoln saying that the final two candidates are Bo Pelini and Turner Gill. The announcement on which one, if either, would ascend to the head coaching role at Nebraska should come down soon. It seems like the whirlwind around Lincoln may finally be slowing down a bit with Osborne on the road and the hiring being left up to him and school administration.

Hopefully we have an answer by the end of the week. Reports said it could be as early as today. Keep refreshing ESPN or any other source you're using to track this story the rest of the afternoon.

Here's a quote. How much of a polar opposite would this guy be from Callahan?

"We're not going to overload them with checks and 9,000 different things. We don't want our guys ever out there memorizing what to do." -Bo Pelini

Road to Redemption-Jason Peter

I read this story about two years ago, but I doubt anyone outside of the Lincoln or Omaha area may have had a chance to read this. He was on HBO's Real Sports last year sometime. I think the video of it is on YouTube or Google Video somewhere. If I find it I'll add it to this post. It was a shock. I remember Jason Peter being larger than life alongside Grant Wistrom when I was in high school. These guys were absolute monsters in stature when I would go to Lincoln to watch a game and see them walking into the stadium. It was just flat out shocking to see his appearance. Below is a story from early 2006 that I think you should read as a Husker fan.

Jason Peter travels the road to recovery

BY KEN HAMBLETON | Lincoln Journal Star

Sunday, Jan 08, 2006 - 12:03:53 am CST

Five years after the start of his pro career, ex-Cornhusker Jason Peter was down to about 225 pounds, alone and paranoid in his Manhattan apartment, waiting for dealers to bring the next high. Today, he's sober and ready to live again.

They called their book on Nebraska’s 1997 national championship football season “Heart and Soul.”

Teammates, roommates, brothers in almost every sense of the word, Jason Peter and Grant Wistrom are as close as any two people can be despite the distance from Seattle to Los Angeles.

They were the keys to winning 49 of 51 games over four seasons at Nebraska.

Nebraska defensive coordinator Charlie McBride said Wistrom was the best defensive end he ever coached and that includes Trev Alberts, Broderick Thomas and Jared Tomich. He said Peter was among the best defensive tackles he ever coached and that list included Neil Smith and John Parrella.

They were such hot draft prospects many scouts were talking about them turning pro after their junior season.

“Jason said he’d kill me if I went to the pros early,” Wistrom said. “I told him the same thing.”

Wistrom and Peter were first-round NFL Draft picks in spring 1998, and they both became starters, Wistrom with the St. Louis Rams, Peter, a 6-foot-5, 285-pound defensive tackle with the Carolina Panthers.

Five years into Wistrom’s career, he signed with Seattle for $14 million and has helped the Seahawks to the playoffs the past two seasons.

Five years after the start of his pro career, Peter was down to about 225 pounds, alone and paranoid in his Manhattan apartment, waiting for dealers to bring the next high.

Prescripton for disaster

Three national championship rings, the adulation of Husker Nation, a $7.4 million signing bonus and friendships forged during five years at Nebraska were not enough.

“Nothing made me feel as good as when I was high,” Peter said. “Nothing mattered but getting that feeling that Vicodin could give me. I was married to the drugs.”

He started with a couple of pain pills for chronic back pain when he was at Nebraska. When he got to the NFL, he had more injuries, more pain, more surgeries, more drugs.

By the time team doctors called an end to his career at the end of the 2001 season because of spinal injuries, Peter was working his way up to 80 Vicodin a day.

Within two years, he had graduated to crack cocaine, then heroin.

“I had nothing to do and I had a bank account,” he said. “I was still dealing with a lot of physical pain and I could still get all the drugs I wanted.”

The combination was a prescription for disaster.

“I’d get up and take 20 Vicodin, wait a little bit and take some more, then some more and by the end of the day I had put down about 80 of the pills,” Peter said. “I liked the way they made me feel.”

Eventually, the Vicodin wasn’t enough.

“I was in a fog but I couldn’t get that feeling that pills gave me any more. I started getting pains where I never had pain before. I’d hit my finger on something and it hurt like I broke it. I was creating pain so I’d take more pain pills.”

With crack cocaine, he would stay up four and five days, then sleep for 24 hours or more.

“That started to wear off, so I switched to heroin. I’d get up and get high. I never did anything. I was such a good customer, the dealers were glad to deliver the drugs right to me.”

Wistrom tried to connect with his best friend.

“He was going through a hard time and I knew he was struggling with some things, but I didn’t know the extent that he was hurting himself. I kept trying to reach out but I knew that when he was ready to join in society, I wanted to be there to welcome him back.”

Peter cut himself off from family, too. Just 40 minutes from his parents’ home in New Jersey, even closer to his two brothers in suburban New York City, he couldn’t find the time or the desire to visit.

“I was pathetic but I didn’t care because I was high all the time.”

He was also afraid.

“I knew more dealers than friends. I had used my athletic ability more than once to run away from the cops. I’m talking about spending a couple of days on the run in the streets in New York City. I’m tough, but I’m not prison tough.”

Pain became too much

When he was at Nebraska, Jason Peter was a leader who stayed out of trouble.

Then came the injuries in the NFL — the tingling from his neck to his fingers that lasted all week, the burning in his shoulders and the steady throb in his back.

At parties with Carolina fans, he said, he’d trade local doctors and dentists autographed jerseys or helmets for prescriptions for Vicodin.

“I knew more dentists in the Charlotte area, and my teeth weren’t all that clean,” he said.

The NFL tested for marijuana, steroids and street drugs, but not Vicodin and such related drugs as OxyContin, Lorcet and Percodan.

“The NFL gets all over the alcohol arrests,” said Peter, who was charged with drunken driving in 1999. “They test you six times a month and make you go to counseling. But the teams wanted you on the field and if Vicodin could get you off the bench, then they didn’t mind.”

In 2001, Peter joked with a writer from The Herald in Rock Hill, S.C., that he didn’t know he had torn ligaments in the arch of his left foot until he stopped taking pain medication for his neck.

In the NFL, Peter said he didn’t hang out with former Huskers and fellow Panthers teammates Mike Rucker and Mike Minter.

“The NFL isn’t like that. They did their thing after practice and I did my thing. We’d get together now and then, but they had their families.

“The NFL was our job, our business and we didn’t mix much after work. It was nothing at all like college.”

Then he faced the universal challenge of life after football.

“All the guys I’ve talked to miss it and there is no substitute for the hitting, the absolute physical nature of football in college and in the pros,” said Brenden Stai, who played for the Huskers before a nine-year pro career. “You can build a family, watch your children grow, learn a business, but there is nothing like playing the game.”

Christian always there

Christian and Jason Peter were roommates in college and played side-by-side on the greatest defense in Nebraska history in 1995.

When Christian finished his career at Nebraska, Jason took his No. 55 jersey as a tribute.

They were always close, and after Jason’s career ended Christian knew his brother was in trouble.

“He had to make the decision to get control, to live a real life,” said Christian, who now sells insurance in New Jersey. “We never left him. We all were always there. Nobody gave up. We all tried talking and never stopped.

“But you tell me, how many drug addicts listen to anybody about anything. The lies. The stories. The excuses. He finally made the choice to live a life.”

Making a choice

Jason Peter fell so far into depression and despair that 18 months ago, he was ready to kill himself.

“I was staying at my folks’ house in Jersey while they were in Europe,” he said. “I was getting high and I was on my knees, ready to put a bullet in my head. Drugs didn’t matter anymore. I was done with everything.

“My Aunt Lee pulled into the driveway and I tried to straighten up. She could see I was a mess.”

Lee Peter would spend the next four days with her nephew.

“We all knew Jason was in trouble with drugs,” she said. “His brothers were convinced that if he continued on the path he was on, he would not be around much longer. I went inside and started talking. I didn’t stop talking and praying for four days.

“I talked about all the gifts he had — a passion for football that he could redirect, a compassion for other people, a family that loved him and needed him, all the talents that made him special. If he could use that strength and passion to help himself, he could overcome this.”

Her nephew checked into the Wiseman Clinic rehab center in the Los Angeles area.

“(They) put me on morphine to get me off the heroin. Then, you try to wean off the morphine. It didn’t work. I went through all the withdrawal systems even though I was unconscious and I was in more pain than ever.”

When he asked for help for the pain, he recalled, a doctor said, “He’s an NFL player, he can suck it up.”

He stayed in the clinic for less than two weeks, and, 30 minutes after checking out, he was high again.

“I had money, I had a passport and I thought, just take off somewhere. I’d get high and die and nobody would bother me.

“But I had run into a woman who worked at a rehabilitation place and said they could do better for me.”

He chose to try again and checked into the Beau Monde Program in Newport Beach, Calif.

“I went through the detox and basically I slept for more than a week,” Peter said. “When the detox was completed, they said it was time to get to work.

“It was tougher than any football training camp I ever went through,” he said. “I did want a life. I did want to stay clear.”

Three months passed, then six, then nine.

“I was getting along and I was closing in on a year without getting high,” he said. “It’s not all that simple. I still go day to day. I know I could get high any time I wanted. I would make excuses about pain. But I thought I had a chance to live a life and that drives me even today.”

Today, he has a life coach to plan out his physical therapy and drug rehab. He knows he can’t do it alone.

“I know that it’s not that far from getting back into drugs and doing myself in. I know if I go back to drugs I’ll die.”

Two months into the Beau Monde program, Peter stunned old friends and fans during an interview with “Real Sports” on HBO.

“I needed drugs more than anything else,” he said during the show. “I tried to kill myself one time with 60 or 70 Vicodin and 20 Ambien. I wrote a letter, saying goodbye. I couldn’t stop and I thought that was the only way out. But the pills didn’t kill me. I just slept for a long time.”

The once-husky defensive lineman looked scared and confused during the show.

“He was so much smaller,” said Mike Rucker. “I knew he was going through a lot. But I was surprised.”

Peter explained the weight loss.

“You don’t worry much about food when you’re high.”

Day-by-day struggle

During a recent visit to the Rumson, N.J., home of his parents, Hubert and Mary, Jason Peter spent time with nieces Olivia and Juliette.

“Daddy can’t compete with Uncle Jason,” Christian Peter said with a chuckle. “This is a life he couldn’t live 17 months ago. Jason was talking about getting out on the ice. We always loved to play hockey. We were actually pretty good, but it’s been so long.”

These days, Jason Peter’s recovery is a full-time job — physical therapy on his neck and back seven days a week and rehabilitation for the drug addiction.

“I get through today. Tomorrow, I’ll get through that day. I feel like if I put one quarter of the effort into rehab that I put into getting drugs and getting high, I can make it.”

As part of his return to life, as he calls it, Peter worked as a volunteer coach with the Edison High Chargers football team in Huntington Beach, Calif., this fall.

“I was trying to teach the things coaches taught me. I was trying to teach the things I learned from playing. I tried to coach the fundamentals.”

He helped lead the Chargers to a 10-2 season and into the state playoffs.

“It was great but I don’t know how much longer I can afford to be a volunteer coach. I went through so much money so fast when I was on the drugs. I’ll have to get a job some day.”

Coaching could be in the future.

“The kids really bought into Jason,” said Dave White, Edison football coach. “He was great with the kids and taught them a lot of things you can only know from experience.

“He was also up front with his past with drugs and I have always been a believer in second chances. Jason was so intense, so fiery and so interesting, we’d love to have him back any time. I know the kids do.”

His Husker teammates already have taken him back.

In July, Jason and Christian Peter and more than 30 other former teammates met for Wistrom’s annual charity golf tournament at Quarry Oaks Golf Course near Ashland.

“It was like nothing had happened and we were back together talking about anything we wanted and playing some really bad golf,” Jason Peter said. “Nobody looked down or looked away from me. That’s Nebraska. Nobody was going to judge me or anybody else.”

Quick Shout Out to My Town

I guess senior ESPN college football writer Pat Forde loves himself some Kansas City barbeque. Who wouldn't? If you've ever been to my fair city to sample the local fair, you'd know what he's talking about. We even served Jack Stack Barbeque at the rehearsal dinner at my wedding. People are still talking about it. From his Forde-Yard Dash column today...

Point After

When hungry and thirsty in Kansas City, The Dash highly recommends the deluxe barbecue cuisine. Last Friday night The Dash had an obscenely piled meat plate at Arthur Bryant's (38), where they will smash white bread, ribs and fries together in rolled-up paper for to-go orders. That was good -- until The Dash lit into ribs and chicken wings from Gates BBQ (39) on Saturday night after the Missouri-Kansas game. My lord. Dreamland officially has competition for Best Barbecue Ever. Wash it down with a KC microbrew Boulevard Pale Ale (40) and you will be one happy human.

(The Dash's Humanitarian of the Year award goes to Kansas City Star columnist Jason "Big Sexy" Whitlock for personally catering a massive Gates spread in the Arrowhead Stadium for all the visiting media at the biggest college game in KC history. Inhaling ribs at midnight surely violates every tenet of healthy eating -- and nobody cared. Happiest press box ever.)

I Did It My Way

So you’ve heard it all before, what would college football look like if we had a playoff system? A lot of theories have been established since before the current BCS system was put in place back in 1998. The current system was installed because of the split national title between the Michigan Wolverines and the Nebraska Cornhuskers in 1997.

Personally, I think a playoff system would be exciting. You want blueprints on how to do it? Just look to the junior FCS, or the division formally known as Division I-AA. Even Division II and III have been holding playoffs for decades. Why is the FBS so far behind? Well, money. I don’t think that will come as a shock to anyone.

Here is what I would like to see with the current teams on top in a playoff picture. This is presupposing the fact that Missouri wins the Big 12, USC wins the Pac-10, Virginia Tech wins the ACC and LSU wins the SEC.

This is the way I would draw it up if I had a say. Make it more like the other divisions in college football and more like the NFL. The first thing I would do is take all the conference champions from the top six conferences (Big 12, Big 10, SEC, ACC, Pac-10 and the Big East) and decide your top six seeds based on placement in the polls. For the final two spots I would pick the highest ranked team from a “non-BCS” conference. Or an independent. This year’s representative would of course be the undefeated Hawaii Warriors from the WAC (Western Athletic Conference). To round out the top eight headed to the playoffs I would take an at-large team from one of the “BCS” conferences.

This of course is not all set in stone. Consider the fact that Notre Dame could get it's stuff together in the next couple years and they could potentially be in the playoffs every year. You could exclude the second BCS school should this happen. Then you could take a Hawaii and Notre Dame and everyone would be happy.

You want it? Well, I'm going to give it to you. This is how my playoff system would look this year in order of seeding.

#1 -

The Missouri Tigers after defeating the Oklahoma Sooners in the Big 12 Championship game will cement their place as the number one team in the land and secure a number one seed for the playoffs.

#2 -

The West Virginia Mountaineers don’t play a championship game against a top 10 team from a tougher conference, so the Mountaineers come in at number two.

#3 -

The Bucks may have lost at home to Illinois, but wins over ranked opponents on the road against Penn State and rival Michigan and over Wisconsin at home put the Scarlet and Grey at the number three spot.

#4 -

After losing to Stanford at home and Oregon on the road, the Trojans are looking like the team they were at the beginning of the year before losing former Heisman candidate John David Booty to injury. USC wins the Pac-10 by defeating UCLA at home and earns a spot in the postseason.

#5 -

Nothing hurts more than a late season loss at home to a conference opponent in triple overtime. Being removed from the #1 spot in the country may hurt a little more, but after beating the Tennessee Volunteers in the SEC Championship the Tigers find themselves in position to still win the national title.

#6 -

VT takes care of business in the ACC by getting revenge over the Golden Eagles of Boston College and advance themselves as the third two loss team in the playoffs.

#7 -

The Dawgs earn the first spot as one of the at-large teams. Why is a two loss team who didn't win their conference or division in front of an undefeated team who will come in at number eight? Quite simply because Georgia is playing great football in one of the toughest conferences around. Georgia nudges out the Jayhawks of Kansas because of this fact.

#8 -

The Warriors of Hawaii round out the playoff picture as the at-large team from a non-BCS school. Just as an example, last year’s team would have been Boise State. And who else besides me would have loved to see the Broncos take on LSU or USC in the second round of the playoffs after taking out Goliath Oklahoma? I know I would have.

Breakdown

How will all of this play out? I’m not sure and maybe I’ll do a follow-up post on the match-ups themselves, provided this is how the conference champions shake out. Maybe if the teams swap a bit, I’ll plug in the teams that won their respective conferences.

This makes things simple in my mind. Win your division. I don’t believe that any team that does not win their division should have a shot at earning a national title. Well, almost. How does Georgia work out then? You have to have some team in there from another major conference I guess, if there is one flaw in this system. Who wants to see BYU play West Virginia? Not I, sir.

What do we do about all the teams that did not make it into the playoffs? Sorry, better luck next season. Maybe you can keep the bowls around to make for a bowl/playoff hybrid. It's probably about the only way you can get away with it. You'd just play normal bowl games around the teams that are in the playoffs. Give the playoff games the prime spots on Saturday and play the other games during the week or earlier on Saturday or on Versus or something.

So what about the major bowls, IE Rose, Fiesta, Orange and Sugar? This is what I would do. The BCS Championship game that started last year (right? no bowl affiliation), I would 86 it and rotate the bowls each year. One of the big four, the Sugar let’s say, would host a non-playoff game with maybe the next two teams after the two at-large teams in the playoffs. The next two (Rose, Orange) would host the semi-finals of the playoffs and then one (Fiesta) would host the final championship game. Let’s break it down.

Here We Go

The first round would be played at the higher seeds home field. This is how it would look to me in Week One of the “bowl season” that would take place the week of December 17^th.

1 Missouri Tigers vs. 8 Hawaii Warriors in Columbia, Missouri

2 West Virginia Mountaineers vs. 7 Georgia Bulldogs in Morgantown, West Virginia

3 Ohio State Buckeyes vs. 6 Virginia Tech Hokies in Columbus, Ohio

4 USC Trojans vs. LSU Tigers in Los Angeles, California

Ok, next we’ll look at where each winning team would play. These wouldn’t be my real picks, like I said earlier, I’ll do a breakdown when the conference championships are settled. So, I’m just going to take the higher seeds for now.

Week Two of “bowl season” during the week of December 31^st. Hey, you have to have an off week for Christmas.

1 Missouri Tigers vs. 4 USC Trojans in Pasadena, California in the Rose Bowl. I know, I know, this is going to piss a lot of people off but hear me out. You can still have it on New Year’s Day and have your little “Parade of Roses” business. Sometimes tradition for the sake of tradition is silly. You can even still have all your New Year’s Day bowls.

2 West Virginia Mountaineers vs. 3 Ohio State Buckeyes in Miami, Florida in the Orange Bowl

Remember the consolation game between the two other at-large schools? How about Kansas versus Florida? Let’s test KU to see how good they really are, or aren’t, this season. Mark this one on the calendar for January 1^st at 8pm for New Orleans, Louisiana in the Sugar Bowl.

Week Three of “bowl season” on Monday, January 7^th 2008.

1 Missouri Tigers vs. 2 West Virginia Mountaineers in Tempe (or is it Phoenix now?), Arizona in the Championship Game in the Fiesta Bowl.

I don’t see how as a fan you can have any arguments with this type of a system. It's time to grow up and start crowning real champions. I’m sure I missed some issues, but as far as just a skeleton system in where the top teams would have a playoff, I don’t see too many faults.

Comments? Suggestions? Make sure to leave 'em for this entry.

Falling Down

From ESPN's Gene Wojciechowski. As you'll read, we need a solid coach now, or it could spell disaster for years to come.

Nebraska is an elite coaching job

It used to be. But now-former athletic director Steve Pederson made a critical mistake and imposed his will on a program that needed a facial, not reconstructive cosmetic surgery. Pederson hired Bill Callahan, who fit like Tabasco sauce on chocolate pudding. Callahan might be a good coach, but he wasn't the right coach for Nebraska. Now Pederson and Callahan are gone, and so is Nebraska's one longtime advantage: an identity.

Lincoln was once I-Back U. It was Walk-On Heaven. It was a national recruiting pipeline, stretching as far as Jersey, Florida and California. Now it's a seven-tractor pileup. Tradition is nice, but elite high school recruits from outside of Nebraska's state lines (and there aren't many of them on an annual basis) don't remember much, if anything, about Mike Rozier. They want to win. They want to be on TV. They want to play for someone who can get them a job in the NFL.

If interim AD Tom Osborne is going to seal the gaping holes in this program, he had better find someone who understands and appreciates Nebraska's past, but more important, someone who understands the realities of its future. Nebraska needs its football identity back.

There are other overrated coaching jobs, beginning with UCLA (everything done on the relative cheap), Arkansas (limited in-state recruiting base, psycho fan expectations), Michigan State (program sounds good on paper, until you realize Michigan and Ohio State are in your conference). But Nebraska was never in the same paragraph with those type of programs ... until now. Nebraska football can be fixed. Probably. Not too much is at stake. Only the difference between relevancy and has-been status.

Let the Games Begin

So where do we go from here? Below are a list of candidates that will be considered or will just turn out to be rumors on the cutting room floor when the smoke clears and a new coach is hired.

I have my vote for who I would like to see coach the Huskers, and it may or may not come as a shock, because I’ve changed my mind several times. I’m going to profile, in detail, the two I like (and most people like too) most. That being said, I like a lot of names in the hat. I like guys that are on the rise as opposed to coaches that have been fired or are tired retreads, for example, Bill Callahan.

One final thing about Bill before I let him ride off into the sunset. Callahan just didn’t get it. He didn’t understand how a rabid fanbase can be so behind a team that success and the standard measuring that success was so high, especially in Lincoln. This surprised me, coming from coaching the Oakland Raiders, who have some of the craziest, out on parole-type fans in the NFL that the love for the Cornhuskers by their fans was somehow missed. It’s a shame, because I think Callahan is a great offensive mind. He’ll be a great coordinator somewhere, and the next team that picks him up as such will benefit greatly.

So here we go…the shortish list of coaches that are either confirmed as being talked to, or just rumors to this point.

Turner Gill

Most people outside of Husker Nation and Buffalo, New York are probably not very familiar with this name and what he means to Nebraska football. Gill was a Heisman runner up 1983 and led the Huskers to a 28-2 record as a starting quarterback. His coaching career started with Nebraska back in 1989 as a graduate assistant after a few years in the CFL (Canadian Football League). After a season at North Texas and Southern Methodist University (SMU) he returned to coach the quarterbacks at Nebraska. The quarterbacks during his tenure flourished with such names in Husker lore as Tommie Frazier, Brook Berringer, Scott Frost and Heisman winner Eric Crouch. Gill was present for Tom Osborne’s most successful run while at the helm of the Nebraska program, so that winning attitude, drive and expectation Osborne spoke of in his press conference on Saturday morning, Gill is well aware.

Gill has spent his last two years turning around one of the worst college football programs in the last decade. In only his second season his Bulls are tied for first in the Eastern Division of the Mid-American Conference (MAC). I think he’s ready to come back. He’ll be embraced, the fans will be more patient with one of their own, and I believe he’ll be able to restore what has been lacking the past few seasons at Nebraska.

Positives: Knows the state of Nebraska and will be able to reopen doors to high school coaches in the area to reinvigorate the walk-on program.

Coached under Osborne for six seasons and Osborne’s successor Frank Solich for another six seasons.

Would have been a logical successor to Solich, moved up to a coordinator position or a head coaching job at a more viable school had Solich not been fired for his "mediocre" 10-3 season in 2003.

Negatives: Has never coached at a high level program beyond being a position coach.

Not a proven recruiter.

Overall: Gill seems on the surface like a perfect fit. The time is always right to hire a black coach to a program with national implications also. He’s turned around a historically bad program, but will he be able to do the same at Nebraska with an unbelievable amount of pressure not seen while in his tenure at Buffalo?

Bo Pelini (Yes, he's wearing an OU polo)

Not unlike Gill, Bo Pelini is no stranger to Nebraska football. He served as the Husker’s defensive coordinator in Frank Solich’s final season in 2003. He brought back a little respectability to the Blackshirts after they had declined a bit after former defensive coordinator Charlie McBride retired in 1999. He was also Nebraska’s interim coach in the 2003 Alamo Bowl against Michigan State, even earning a victory, but was dismissed after Callahan was hired.

Pelini made a name for himself as co-defensive coordinator at Oklahoma under Bob Stoops and more recently at Louisiana State University under Les Miles. Pelini is a hot name for a head coaching job in college football, and there will be a lot of takers in the offseason. Pelini comes from Youngstown, Ohio and the area has bred a ton of young coaching talent. Ohio State's Jim Tressel (not exactly young I guess), Florida's Urban Meyer and Oklahoma's Bob Stoops come to mind. He’s also a former Buckeye (a program I respect greatly) player, and I hate Michigan (a program I can’t stand), so that’s cool with me.

Pelini has earned a bit of a reputation as a hothead though. He’s never been a head coach on the collegiate level and it’s unknown how his short fuse will affect his perception in Lincoln or how it could affect the team or program itself.

Osborne and Nebraska Chancellor Harvey Perlman don’t seem too concerned, as they interviewed Pelini today. LSU would like to keep him as their ace up their sleeve depending on what current head coach Les Miles decides in regards to the recently vacated Michigan head coaching job. Last Saturday’s loss to unranked Arkansas may have expedited this process and LSU may try to hang on to Pelini. Nebraska still has an advantage with him as an assistant and not a head coach, Pelini doesn’t need permission from anyone to speak to another university.

Positives: Nebraska fans seem to have this guy as the number one choice, so hiring him would make a lot of people very happy. Fans chanted “We want Bo” as the closing minutes ticked off the scoreboard in San Antonio during the ’03 Alamo Bowl.

He has coached two talented and highly regarded defenses at OU and LSU. Pelini could bring back physicality to Husker football and the Blackshirt defense that hasn’t really been seen since Pelini last coached them.

Pelini will have access to coaches in Oklahoma and Louisiana from recent previous coaching positions.

Negatives: In short, his temper and lack of judgement on the football field because of it. Also, his defensive scheming is heavily dependent on over powering and over matching opposing offenses, something he won’t be able to have until after at least two to three years of recruiting.

Not a proven recruiter, but has done well with other coaches talent.

Overall: Pelini comes from good stock and has a great background as an assistant at many high profile programs. He also has several years of NFL defensive coaching experience. He seems like he would understand what is at stake in Lincoln after spending time in Norman and Baton Rouge. And he would bring a fire and intensity that was severely lacking under Callahan.

Ok, so those are my two frontrunners and I would be happy with either one. Here is the list of other possible and rumored candidates.

- Chris Peterson, Boise State University

- Jim Leavitt, South Florida University

- Greg Schiano, Rutgers University

- Brian Kelly, Cincinnati University

- Paul Johnson, Navy

Here are two more that are very interesting...

- Huston Nutt, formerly of Arkansas

-Jim Grobe, Wake Forest University

With the hire at Texas A&M coming today of former Green Bay Packer coach Mike Sherman, the standard is set and Nebraska should be able to hire someone that will fit with what Osborne and company feel comfortable with. Should they follow A&M’s lead and hire a former assistant that is familiar with success at their program? Did you think I was just referring to Pelini? If you’re smart, I think you can catch my drift on who I would personally like to see installed as the next coach.

Coaching at the University Nebraska is a scary prospect and anyone who is being considered will have to have nerves of steel, so to speak, to not only coach here, but be successful. The bar has also been set by Osborne. You're either successful, or you're not. You're either winning on the field, or losing. You're either employed, or you're not.

Callahan Era Ends

In the amount of time that it takes for the weather to change across the prairie of Nebraska, Bill Callahan and staff were summoned to interim Athletic Director Tom Osborne's office and fired faster than you can say 27-and-22.

The pink slips were handed out efficiently and without emotion by Osborne, much like the Husker living legend handed out losses to the rest of the Big 8/12 while he wast still roaming the sidelines, hat awkwardly cocked to the side of his head, arms neatly folded behind his back or his hand under his chin, never breaking a sweat.

By 9:30am Osborne had already cleaned house, called a press conference, and removed any evidence of the previous regime that had erased most of what Osborne built in 25 years as head coach. The team and program had ostensibly been taken away from the state of Nebraska and it's fans that would flood Lincoln on Saturday's to watch their team, only to see it and the it's status transform before their eyes.

The people in this region may be too trusting, too willing to give someone a chance. Just look and Nebraska fans' reputation as being the class of major college football. We were taken advantage of and duped into believing Bill Callahan and former A.D. Steve Pederson would take us back to the promised land of another national title.

Sure, Callahan has a mind of a top class offensive coordinator. But I warned people when he was hired, look at his head coaching resume. It's true that Callahan took the Oakland Raiders to a Super Bowl, but that was mainly on the momentum that outgoing coach Jon Gruden had created. Callahan took a Super Bowl caliber team and drove them into the toilet and ended up getting fired the very next season with mass mutiny on his hands. Where are the Raiders now? Did I mention that Callahan was the 5th choice to coach the 4th winningest college football program of all time?

What's left is that I along with other Nebraska faithful are forced to sit back and watch Kansas and Missouri play for the Big 12 North and a shot at a National Title. Kansas and Missouri? No less than seven or eight years ago these two teams couldn't carry our equipment. Now we're sitting at home with a losing record. We deserve better than this.

Apparently, I am not the only one who has higher standards. Osborne reportedly told Callahan when he entered the picture after Pederson was fired (the Huskers were 4-4) that if he finished 8-4 there would be no coaching change. Anything less would be hard to accept. That's what has been missing from the Husker program. Standards. You set the bar high and don't accept just making the postseason, or just playing hard. Winning is all that matters.

The Huskers this season were little more than a doormat for the rest of the conference. Nebraska used to be a team that other teams feared, mainly because they played so physical that two or three weeks after being dismantled by Nebraska, you still felt it as you prepared for the rest of your season. That's what needs to be brought back.

All we can do now is sit back and trust in a man that had one of the most legendary coaching careers in college football history. As you may or may not remember, Osborne's record stands at a staggering 255-49-3. That's a winning percentage of .838%. That's an average of 10.2 wins per year and less than two per year. At Callahan's rate, he was on pace to lose 137 games in 25 years.

You can look at Callahan's record and try to dig out some positives. He did win more than he lost, but since when has that been acceptable? The next numbers are fairly mind numbing. Go grab a trash can, because this may make you nauseous.

Callahan was 15-18 against Big 12 opponents, 0-7 against top ten opponents and 3-10 against the top 25. He was also 0-17 when the Husker's trailed at the half. Red flag? What else do you need? Look at the 2007 season, especially the defense. Nebraska finished near the bottom of 119 FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision, previously known as Division I-A) teams in most major defensive categories including yards per game and scoring defense.

You can't regress, and that's exactly what Callahan did. This season was every fan's worst nightmare. Something had to be done and Osborne thankfully pulled the trigger. Bo Pelini and Turner Gil remain the top prospects to succeed Callahan. With Huston Nutt leaving Fayetteville, Arkansas he is also on the list. He was actually almost lured out of Arkansas in 2003 by Pederson, but at the last minute Nutt told Pederson he couldn't leave the program.

The next few weeks will be the most important stretch of time in Husker history in terms in a coaching change. Osborne has one last chance to pick a lasting successor to return this program to national prominence. All we can do is hope that he is as talented and successful in the athletic director's chair as he was guiding this team to so many conference and national titles.

ESPN Story on Callahan's Firing

ESPN's Ivan Maisel's Column on Callahan Firing

Huskers.com Story and Transcript of Press Conference

Watch the Press Conference

Here are some videos to help supplement my rant.

It's 'Friday'

So I though I would post something that may be of mild interest to Nebraska fans. A Forbes report listing the Top 20 Most Valuable College Football Programs was recently published. Notre Dame is, of course, at the top of the list as the most profitable. The Irish are listed at a total value of $101 million and netting a profit of $45.8 million. Plenty to buy Charlie Weiss out of his contract.

Our team is ranked 18th overall between the Washington Huskies and Michigan State Spartans. The team is valued at $49 million and it's profitability is listed at $12.4 million. I like how the caption just says that Bill Callahan "refused to step down at Nebraska despite being asked to do so by university officials." Pretty neat.

Three other Big 12 schools were ranked ahead of Nebraska. The schools are listed as Texas(#2), Oklahoma (#11) and Texas A&M (#16) in that order.

Above It All

This weekend will mark the biggest meeting between the Kansas Jayhawks and the Missouri Tigers since 1960. It’s been over 40 years since this game has had any real meaning or carried any semblance of gravity. This rivalry goes back 116 years on the football field, but it goes back even further in the history books.

As you may or may not remember from your 8^th grade history class, Missouri and Kansas were entrenched in many a bloody battle back before and during the American Civil War. Missouri was a Confederate state and Kansas was a Union State. Most that were determined to abolish slavery settled in Kansas to oppose the pro-slavery state of Missouri.

You might say that since you’re not a redneck flying a Confederate Flag outside your home that you’d side with Kansas, being anti-slavery and all. It’s not that simple. Do you know where Kansas gets their mascot name from? A band of guerillas that led attacks on Missouri towns and cities went by the moniker the “Jayhawkers.” The Jayhawkers were notorious for the raping, pillaging and the slaughter of innocent women and children. On the other hand, the Tiger's home of Columbia is still known as "Little Dixie" and most are still proud of their Confederate roots.

How do I know all this crap? Well, because after living here for a little over a year now and going to college down in Missouri teaches you a lot about the history of each state. And I’ve done a lot of reading about this matchup this weekend. I wanted to see exactly why these two schools and their fans hate (and I really mean hate) each other.

What’s my point with this being a Nebraska Cornhuskers blog? I’m glad to be fan of a team that is above it all. Sure my team stinks this year and is danger of being tied for last place in the Big 12 North, but as you probably know, Nebraska fans are some of the classiest in college football. Of course we have our fair share of idiots, but if you’ve been to a game in Lincoln you are aware that for the most part, fans of the opposing team are treated with nothing but respect and are hardly harassed. Don’t believe me? I went to see Nebraska play Troy last fall and a gentleman was walking though one of the mezzanines and was wearing an Oklahoma jacket. Not one comment, not one menacing remark. That was in 2006 and we don't play the Sooners again until 2008.

The game is set for 7pm at Arrowhead Stadium in my home of Kansas City, Missouri. The gates open at 9am. Do the math. Probably over 100,000 people (20,000 of which don’t have tickets, they’ll just tailgate) drinking for over 9 hours piling into a stadium that probably won’t have the benefit of being split down the middle like the Red River Shootout.

Click to enlarge the above picture to see what I'm referring to.

While my team sits at the bottom and struggles to get into a December bowl when they play Colorado the day before, these two teams will slug it out for Big 12 North supremacy, a shot a the Big 12 title and a chance to play for the BCS National Title. No doubt certain fans will slug it out to show themselves who’s state is better while their respective teams do the same on the field.

When it gets down to it, this is just a game after all. When you’re 45 years old and getting into a fistfight over a bunch of 18 to 23 year old kids, it’s not cool. And fighting over which state did what to whom over 150 years ago is even less cool. Like I said, just happy to be above it all.

Ducks Lose, Big 12 Wins

Did you not see this coming? I did. Now that the Oregon Ducks are the latest casualty of the dreaded #2 BCS ranking, all eyes move toward the Big 12 to see who will not only be crowned the conference’s champion, but who will be playing for the BCS Championship in January.

First, how about those uniforms? That’s all anyone wants to talk about when it comes to Oregon. Can’t say I blame them. With the exception of the USC game in Eugene this team hasn’t really done anything spectacular (except for handing a beat down to the much hated Michigan Wolverines in September) this season. Sure they beat Arizona State, but who really thought they were a true top 10 team? Maybe in a couple years after Dennis Erickson has had time to build a squad.

Not that that being a top 10 team means anything this season. Parody (hate that word) seems to have finally taken over college football. 85 scholarships, welcome to the NFL junior league with no damn playoffs. With no opportunity for a +1 system until after 2010, this is how it could be for the next few years. Yippy skippy.

Each of the three teams ranked in the BCS top five from the Big 12 (Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri) hold their destiny in their hands so to speak. If each of these teams wins out, the one that does so will probably be playing LSU (provided they don’t loose) for the national title.

Kansas should move up to #2 if they don’t lose to Iowa State, who has been playing well as of late beating Kansas State and Colorado, tomorrow in Lawrence, Kansas. Oklahoma and Missouri should follow in at #3 and #4 respectively. In my humble opinion, the only team I think is truly strong enough to be in a title game with LSU in their backyard is Oklahoma. I think Missouri and Kansas would be more out of their league than Ohio State was last year playing against a faster, more athletic Florida team.

Don’t get me wrong, you can’t take away the fact that Kansas and Missouri have had fantastic seasons and can take them to even loftier heights provided they win out. However, between the two schools they have one quality win. That came on the first weekend of the year when Mizzou defeated Illinois on a neutral field. Whichever team wins on November 24^th (Missouri in my opinion, once again) will have the opportunity to prove just how good they are when they play (a rematch) in front of what will be a mostly pro-Sooner mob in San Antonio for the Big 12 Championship game.

Any way you slice it there is no avoiding that the Big 12 is on top of the conference heap. It’s just too bad Nebraska picked this year to have one of their worst in modern college football history.

Speaking of which, the Huskers will enjoy their bye week before traveling to Boulder to try and secure a bowl game berth next Friday. If they win, the Huskers are projected to play Arkansas in the Independence Bowl. That would be great, considering Darren McFadden plays for the Razorbacks and the "Blackshirts" have one of the worst run defenses in college football. Yikes.

Extra credit reading here here and very unfortunately here.

Too Little, Too Late

Momentarily on this past Saturday afternoon, I almost mistook the 2007 Nebraska Cornhuskers for the 1997 Huskers. Almost. Except rather than piling up 500 yards on the ground, it was through the air. I hadn’t watched a thorough beating like this against a conference opponent since the days of Eric Crouch, and certainly not against Kansas State since well before his time. Not that I'm ready to hang my hat on this one game, it's been a terrible season to say the least.

Being in Lincoln this late in the year with Nebraska facing the possibility of finishing 4-and-7 and not making a bowl for the second time in four years was something I personally had never experienced. I was driving up from Kansas City Saturday morning and thought to myself that taking this much time out of my weekend to watch my team lose was a waste of time. At least I had Monday off.

You can’t imagine how glad I am that I went. The Huskers I saw with my own eyes Saturday resembled nothing I had watched at any point this year on TV. When you are up 66-17 in the fourth quarter it’s hard to believe that this team was coming off a five game losing streak.

Junior Quarterback Joe Ganz had a record setting day with 510 yards through the air and 7 passes into the endzone. About half were connecting with receivers in stride (something Sam Keller struggled with all year) and the other half were in the redzone scrambling after K-State coverage held up after the snap. The play most people that were there talked about most was Ganz’s 4^th and 20 run where he leveled a Wildcat while running out of bounds. Looks like someone has been waiting for his chance to prove he can QB at Nebraska.

Saturday was also Senior Day at Memorial Stadium and it was great seeing players like wide receiver Franz Hardy score three touchdowns and Bo Ruud and Corey McKeon contribute to a great defensive effort.

Speaking of which he defense actually looked almost like the Blackshirts. Almost. For a unit that had surrendered so many points this year it was astounding to see that until the back-ups came in they limited the K-State offense to under 250 total yards and 17 points.

Where was this team all year? Probably not responding to Bill Callahan’s faith in senior transfer Sam Keller. It just didn’t look like the team could rally around him and play for him. With Ganz, it appears to be the exact opposite. Another factor is that Ganz has been in the system two years longer than Keller. I don’t care how many practice squad snaps you take, for the amount of work that goes into learning the West Coast offense there is no substitute for time spent studying and living with the playbook.

So where does this leave the Huskers? They have the possibility to go to a bowl game provided they can travel to Boulder and beat Colorado on the road on November 23^rd. Both are 5-6 and competing to receive a bowl bid. After watching Nebraska last Saturday I like their chances off a bye week, provided they can execute on the same level as they did against Kansas State.

Last Saturday’s 42 point win will not be saving Callahan’s job, and I’m pretty sure everyone knows it. Beating K-State soundly at home and resting hopes on the final game against Colorado to maybe get into a bowl game is not something most fans signed on for four years ago. A lot of Husker faithful are clamoring for either Louisiana State defensive coordinator Bo Pelini or University of Buffalo coach and Husker legend Turner Gil. A lot has to happen to bring Pelini to Lincoln. If current LSU head coach Les Miles leaves for Michigan (provided Lloyd Carr is fired or retires, which depends on this weekend’s game in Ann Arbor against rival Ohio State) LSU’s athletic director Stanley “Skip” Bertman has expressed great interest in retaining Pelini. Right now, I’d stay in Baton Rouge. Gil has climbed the ranks rather quickly. He spent a lot of time as the Husker’s quarterback coach refining such Husker greats as Tommie Frazier, Brook Berringer, Scott Frost and Eric Crouch. He served as Director of Player Personnel for the Green Bay Packers before shipping up to Buffalo in 2006. It would be a great story to have a Husker player to come back and turn this program back into a national powerhouse. After all, the greatest success has come under coaches that have been close to the program and the university. I’m just not sure if he’s ready yet. But he’s familiar with the state, the program and what it takes to please fans in Nebraska.